Yet another craft brewer has announced plans to expand with a second location.
The Boulder, Colo. based Upslope Brewing is adding a secondary brewing facility just 6 miles from its current location on Lee Hill Road.
“It’s a real upbeat part of town,” said company founder Matt Cutter.
Cutter, who launched Upslope in 2008, said he considered finding one central location for his brewing outfit but couldn’t find a large enough space to accommodate his long term growth projections.
“Of course it makes financial and logistical sense to have everything under one roof,” he said. “We just weren’t ready to buy land and start building. That is too big of an expense right now at this stage of our growth.”
Upslope is the smallest production brewer to announce a second location this year, having produced just 3,800 barrels in 2011 and projecting 5,500 barrels for 2012.
Cutter signed an 8-year lease on the new space, located at S. Flatiron Court. It spans 12,000 sq. ft. and will initially house a brand new 30-barrel brewhouse and two, 120-barrel fermentation tanks. The new brewery will be capable of churning out approximately 9,500 barrels.
Cutters strategy is to utilize the new space for flagship and seasonal brewing operations while keeping the Lee Hill location as proving ground for innovative new beer offerings.
“What is beyond barrel-aged beers, sours and all these trends that are developing?” he said. “We want to find out what’s next on the horizon and you can only do that through experimentation. We will have the ability to find that out with our existing 7-barrel brewhouse. Our tap room patrons will be our Guinea pigs.”
The new project, which will cost an expected $1.25 million, is being financed by a traditional bank loan and investment from a local private investor. Funding will be put towards new equipment and project build out.
Cutter also told Brewbound.com that Upslope recently purchased nearby Oskar Blues Brewing Company’s old canning line, capable of filling up to 160 cans per minute. That’s a big upgrade from the company’s existing 40 can per minute machine.
The new facility is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2013.